“You’re the last one I want to hear that from,” Amber growled at Merlin, “You’re the one running around butt naked like it’s nothing,”

“It’s not like I have a choice,” Merlin stared at her with a grin, “And it’s Arad here, not someone else. Why would I mind being naked around him?”

“He’s a man,” Amber growled, “No, forget it, don’t get naked in front of anyone, a man or a woman,”

Merlin stared at Arad, “A man?”

“What?” Arad looked back at her with a passive face.

“Well, he isn’t,” Merlin said, “Worst case, he’s a brat, and the best case, he’s a monster,”

“Huh?” Amber stared at her with a confused face, “You might be blind,”

“No,” Merlin stared at her, “You’re the blind one, look at his eyes,”

Amber looked at Arad’s eyes, her eyes glowing with a faint red light as she approached his face. “There is nothing in there,” She got closer, that their noses almost touched.

But then, as she stared at Arad’s eyes the darkness in his eyes seemed endless, and Amber slowly zoned out, getting a sudden sense of falling.

“AHH!” She cried, falling on her back and crawling back. “What was that?” She stared at Merlin.

“What do you think it is?” Merlin stared at her with an exhausted face, “Let’s sleep. If you didn’t realize it on your own, you aren’t that much better than the average mage.” 𝑖.𝑐ℴ𝑚

“I mean,” Amber looked at her, “I know that was the magic of a dragon, but he’s a draconic bloodline sorcerer. What I don’t understand is what is strange about that?”

Merlin waved her hand, yawning, “Just come here and let us sleep,”

^He doesn’t have his draconic powers now, so sensing it is hard. His draconic nature won’t feel any different than a normal sorcerer.^ Merlin crawled above Arad, resting her head on his chest and closing her eyes.

“Fine,” Amber did the same, lying on Arad’s chest, then pulled her robe over them.

Arad extended his hand out, ^I hate this human body,^ His eyes slowly closed, ^It’s too weak, too frail, too slow, and get exhausted easily,^

****

Back on the first layer, the monsters there looked around. “Something entered the maze,” One of them said, turning to the side.

CRACK! Her body got sent flying, spinning in the air with her bones broken as a large shadow rushed across the field at an incredible speed.

“Stop it!” Another monster shouted as she rushed toward the being, but it only took one ram from her to fall to the ground and then get trampled.

“The boss would stop him,” Another shouted.

“You idiot, it didn’t respawn yet. That thing would slip right to the second layer.” Another replied.

****

Arad opened his eyes, seeing only darkness ahead of him. Something heavy rests on his face. “Get off me,” He growled.

“Another minute,” Merlin mumbled, wiggling in place.

Arad lifted his arms, grabbing her by the hips, “You move a lot,” He lifted her butt up, “Can’t you learn to sleep in one position?”

“Hahaaaaa,” Merlin mumbled, half asleep half awake.

“I said wake up,” She shook her and she woke up, “What’s going on?” As she looked down, she saw Arad lifting her butt over his face, “What are you doing?”

“That’s my question. You started hitting me with your elbow, then ended up turning around and laying at my face. Are you an hour-finger thing or something?”

“They are called hands,” Merlin replied with a smug face.

“I don’t care,” Arad sighed, “You move a lot in your sleep,”

She sighed, “Sorry, in my tower I have four kingsized beds sat beside each other in a square and filled with pillows and blankets. I usually sleep there alone like it’s a nest.”

“I see,” Arad looked at her.

“You’re seeing too much,” She looked back at him, “Mind putting me down?”

“I’m thinking about it,”

“What do you mean by that?” She gasped.

Arad gently put her down and she sighed, “Thanks,” She said with a tired face, “How much time has passed?”

“I don’t know, but I would say not more than two hours,” Arad replied.

“How do you know?” Merlin stared at him, “You don’t know time magic, do you?”

“I know a spell that slow time, but I can’t use it with this body,” Arad pointed with his finger at the light coming from beneath the door, “I used that to count,”

Merlin blinked, “You know how to slow time?” She smiled, “Impressive. But, you can’t rely on the sun inside a labyrinth to tell time,”

“It didn’t feel longer than expected,” Arad looked at her, “And does that matter now? It’s already passed, and our only option is to keep clearing this place,”

“You’re right,” She looked toward Arad’s torso, seeing Amber crawling there and using his stomach as a pillow. “We should her rest a bit longer,”

“She needs to rest,” Arad smiled.

“We’re an archmage that is used to sleeping three hours a day and a dragon that barely sleeps.” Merlin giggled.

“I can’t say I don’t need sleep now,” Arad replied. “This current body I have get exhausted easily. I might be in the same boat as her,”

Merlin sat beside Arad, “Rest your head,” She tapped her thigh, “You need to sleep more, don’t you?”

Arad put his head on her thigh and closed his eyes, slowly drifting into sleep.

“I was watching as you fought that tarrasque.” She combed his hair with her fingers, “Your power is growing faster than anyone I’ve seen in my life. I’m sure you will clear this labyrinth and more in the future.”

“You spy a lot on me,” He mumbled.

“Of course I do,” She giggled, “Your power is far beyond what people are comfortable dealing with. It’s best that I be the one keeping an eye on you rather than anyone else.”

“The tower won’t send people after me,”

“Do you trust that halfling words? I’m expected to report if you turned evil since I didn’t. That’s the only way no more wizards are coming here to catch you alive.” Merlin smiled, “Wizards don’t only work for the tower. They are crazed people. They would catch you for their own experiments even if Lilia didn’t need you.”

Merlin blinked. Arad had fallen asleep.

.